Vernon Greder

Vernon Frederic Greder, a faithful husband of 66 years and patriarch to a more than 40 member family, died Friday on the same Crawford County, Iowa soil on which he was born, raised and where he farmed for four decades. He was 87.
Vernon married Marie Fredericks on February 22, 1945 and raised five children Kay, Linda, Frederic, Rodney and Daniel in a white farmhouse set in the rolling hills of Washington Township.
After he finished farming in 1984, Vernon stocked shelves at a Denison grocery store for a decade and was a one_term mayor and member of the town council in Buck Grove. He faithfully served as a Sunday School Superintendent, elder and treasurer at either Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Dow City or St. Johns Lutheran Church in Buck Grove.
Vernons formal education concluded with a high school diploma in 1941, but if a fulfilled life includes your childrens achievements, then Vernon succeeded.
Vernon encouraged his two daughters and three sons to complete college, even when scant savings and a pat on the back were all he could offer as they left Crawford County. After 23 years, each child had graduated, and to date, all 12 grandchildren of college age have also earned degrees.
Vernon maintained a sharp memory, and despite a lean frame, he displayed a strong back in lifting hay bales into barns, dumping feed bags into bunks and hoisting babies out of bassinets over nine decades.
Vernon was a voracious reader, a hobby that might have only been outdone by his proclivity to converse at length about what he learned from his readings or to share opinions on the price of corn or, err, his details on a conspiracy theory.
Vernon was born March 18, 1924 to John Greder and Hulda Hollander in Washington Township, Crawford County, Iowa. He was baptized and later confirmed in 1938 at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Buck Grove.
Vernon traveled internationally with family, but at the end of each trip, he was always eager to return home to his corner of Iowa. He was proud to have lived his entire life in Washington Township. Illness forced a move to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs in November 2011, but on Nov. 25, he returned to his final residence at Eventide in Denison, rightfully spending his last day in his Crawford County.
His parents, two sisters, Vernetta Hass and Bernadine Deiber, and one brother, Sylvester Greder, preceded him in death. Survivors include his wife, Marie, and his children: Kay Moeller (Stan), Colo.; Linda Gasau (Bill), Mo.; Frederic Greder (Marty) Iowa; Rodney Greder (Rhonda), Minn.; Daniel Greder (Kim), Iowa.
He was the grandfather of fifteen, great_grandfather of eight, and step_grandfather to more.
His grandchildren are: Kristin Anderson (Mark), Mo.; Jon Moeller (Vanessa), Calif.; Jennifer Moeller, Colo.; Melissa Quezada (Jose), Ind.; Elizabeth Lejeune (Jeff), Colo.; Nicholas Gasau (Ashley), Wis.; Kate Greder, Iowa; Andrew Greder, Minn.; Lucas Greder, Minn.; David Greder, Iowa; AnnaLisa LaBoube (Nick) Mo.; Alarie Greder, S.D., and Wesley, Will and Abigail Greder of Iowa.